I find it difficult to understand the selective outrage of those who passionately call for regime change in Iran while remaining conspicuously silent about authoritarian excesses elsewhere in West Asia.

However, such positions reveal a troubling inconsistency and, quite frankly, hypocrisy. The same voices that invoke civil rights, women’s rights, and democratic values in one context often overlook or excuse similar violations when they occur under regimes they are less inclined to criticise. This is not a principled stand. It is a selective one.

We see this contradiction clearly. Many who demand change in Iran are willing to ignore the ongoing genocide in Gaza. They dismiss or condemn legitimate protests within their own country, such as the farmers’ movement, and remain unperturbed by the arrests of political prisoners.

Folks have no hesitation speaking about the fatwa on Salman Rushdie and the attempted murder that followed. And they should. It deserves to be spoken about. But the silence is telling when it comes to what is happening in our own country. Let me remind you of the erosion of democratic institutions and the shrinking space for dissent in India which is frequently cited by international monitors and domestic critics as a “democratic backsliding.”

Narendra Dabholkar, founder of an anti-superstition organization; shot while on a morning walk in Pune.

Govind Pansare, left-wing politician and author; shot while returning from a walk in Kolhapur.

M.M. Kalburgi, Academic and scholar; shot at his home in Dharwad for his views on religious idols.

Gauri Lankesh, writer, editor and activist; shot outside her Bengaluru home for her criticism of hardline groups.

Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who died in judicial custody at age 84 while awaiting trial in the Bhima Koregaon case. The state’s refusal to provide this dying man with a basic straw to drink from a glass remains one of the most chilling examples of judicial neglect.

These are not isolated incidents. These are the few of many voices that have been silenced. I won’t even get into the bulldozing of Muslim homes or the detention of Muslim activists without due process. By every standard, these are grounds for regime change. But we will do it the only way it should be done, through democratic processes.

You cannot be outraged by one and indifferent to the other. Either you stand against violence and intimidation in all its forms, or you are simply choosing what makes you uncomfortable enough to react, and what suits your narrative.

Human rights violations in Iran are real and deserve criticism. However, the same urgency is rarely applied to other regimes in the region with comparable or worse records, including violations within our own nation.

I’m not even getting into the state of human rights and civil liberties in those so-called “progressive” and “modern” West Asian countries. Not because it isn’t worth discussing, but because most people choose not to. It is easier to stay silent when your livelihood is tied to that very system.

If the commitment to justice is genuine, it must be consistent. One cannot champion freedom selectively while turning a blind eye to injustice elsewhere. Every justification used to attack Iran is beginning to fall apart under its own contradictions. And every justification offered for the genocide in Gaza stands as a poor reflection of your moral consistency.